Disney offers a new spin in 'Little House' special
The show's star has to slow down for the role.
SCRIPPS HOWARD
Danielle Ryan Chuchran loved flipping out of boxes and climbing the walls as one of the quirky characters in "Cat in the Hat." After the 2003 movie, the 11-year-old Pleasant Grove, Utah, actress realized she was ready for more action.
"I would like to try to jump off a building," she said. As she talked on the phone from Utah, Chuchran looked at her mother, Sharon.
"I gave my mom a scare. She's looking a bit nervous," Chuchran said, chuckling. "Yeah, I'm kind of a daredevil."
For now, Chuchran will have to settle for crossing an ice-covered Mississippi in a covered wagon -- just as the ice starts to break. That was one of her adventures as she played Mary Ingalls, Laura's older sister, in ABC's version of "Little House on the Prairie."
It premieres at 8 p.m. Saturday and will air for five weeks as part of "The Wonderful World of Disney."
This "Prairie" is an extended pilot. If it does well in the ratings, ABC could pick it up as a regular series, and Chuchran said she would love to be on the show for five or more years in a story line that eventually leads to Mary's blindness.
ABC has stressed that this "Little House on Prairie" is based on the Laura Ingalls Wilder books and not the 1974-83 series that starred Michael Landon and Melissa Gilbert as Charles Ingalls and his young daughter.
Along with Chuchran, Cameron Bancroft, Erin Cottrell and Kyle Chavarria star, respectively, as Charles, Caroline, the mother, and Laura.
New angle
Chuchran is in the role that Melissa Sue Anderson played in the original series.
Chuchran said she sees strong similarities between the two versions. "[Viewers] will learn how a family stuck together during a journey."
The story remains essentially the same: A pioneer family leaves Wisconsin and takes a long, dangerous journey in a covered wagon to the prairie of Kansas.
The 1970s "Little House" was filmed in Simi Valley, just north of Los Angeles. The new version was filmed from February to June 2004 in Calgary, Alberta, a frequent site for today's Westerns. Chuchran said the Canadian location worked well because it snowed during filming, exactly what the producers needed for the story about a pioneer family leaving Wisconsin in the winter.
"Mary likes to be around Ma, cleaning, sewing, cooking dinner. Erin played Ma, and off the set, I called her 'Mom'. My mom, Erin and I were in the car together, and I said, 'Mom.' They both turned to me and said, 'Yes, dear,' " Chuchran said.